Bram Stoker Awards, WHC Atlanta, and other news...

I could not have been more shocked to learn that "Baby's Breath" made it through to the Final Ballot of the Bram Stoker Awards, released last month by theHorror Writers Association.

You can find the full list of nominees here. Best of luck to all the finalists, and congratulations on your nominations!

I wrote a longer post about this onFacebook, but the simple truth is that this nomination is extremely humbling and all very surreal.

There are a lot of people I feel are a direct result of any successes I achieve in my writing or otherwise, so really, most of my posts end up consisting of a long list of names anyway.

But this story has proven to be pivotal for me in a lot of ways...it was an accomplishment for me just to write to begin with, and Simon Rumley's words of praise about it in the Foreword of Bugs: Tales that Slither, Creep and Crawl quite literally meant the world to me.

Then to have it go on to win the award for Best Horror Short Story and now this is just mind blowing, really.

You can read "Baby's Breath" here. I'll also be bringing a limited number of chapbooks to the World Horror Convention in Atlanta and possiblyAnthoCon to sign, so if you'd like a copy, let me know. I'm working with an outrageously talented artist who I'm keeping under wraps for now. But I'm really excited. My eternal gratitude goes to the HWA and each and every member who felt my work was worthy of this prestigious nomination. It's something I will treasure for the rest of my life.I'm also very grateful toMarge Simon, who asked me to guest her Blood & Spades Column for the April issue of the HWA Newsletter. I've written an essay called "The Slow Bite of Horror's Tiny Teeth" and incorporated a few of my poems into the column, which was a lot of fun. Last month Michael Bailey guested the column and talked a lot about Inkblots and Blood Spots, the collectionVillipedereleased of his last November. He also included "Open Auras" and "All But the Things That Cannot Be Torn," two of my favorite poems from the collection.

Another reason I'm grateful to Marge is because she invited me to be on the Dark Poets Panel at this year's World Horror Convention. It's such an honor...and if you'll be in Atlanta for the con, I do hope you'll stop by.

In other words, if you're going, I'm looking forward to seeing you...and if you're not registered yet, you should be.

My imaginary roommate Ted is even making an appearance! Ted is driving all the way from Kentucky to be there...I can hardly believe it myself.

There are three people who won't be going that I'll miss dearly, though: Rose Blackthorn, Geno Mortensen, and Carl R. Moore. Those three were my WHC crew last year in Portland, and it won't be the same without them. But check out Rose's new release from Eldritch Press--I'm really proud of her--her first poetry collection, Thorns, Hearts and Thistlesis almost as beautiful as she is. And Carl has a novella called Torn From the Devil's Chest forthcoming from Charoin Coin Press, and his website has free stories, poems, and updates on the progress. Carl posts great reviews and also has another fantastic collection called Slash of Crimson and Other Stories coming out in the near future, as well.

Lastly, my interview with Jack Ketchum will appear in the Souvenir Book this year, which is really exciting. I absolutely loved reading his answers to my questions, and can't wait for you to see them, too. I was thrilled when Eric Guignard reached out to me to interview Jack for his Lifetime Achievement Award. Here's a picture of last year's Souvenir Book.

Anyway, to tie off, some of you know that my son has been in the hospital for a week now, and between my health issues and his, we've had an extremely challenging year. I'm certainly nervous about the timing of the convention and have been wrapped up in family matters here at home, but am really looking forward to seeing everyone and taking some time away to focus on my second love. I'm sure you all know what that is by now.

Author & Editor

﻿Sydney Leigh is the evil literary double of a mostly sane writer, editor, photographer, artist, English teacher, and native of the North Shore. Her poetry, short fiction, and reviews have appeared in numerous publications.

Her best friend is a Border Collie, and despite holding degrees in English, Psychology, and Graphic Design, she spends most of her free time doing her teenage son’s laundry and playing rock-paper-scissors with her imaginary roommate, Ted.